FORT COLLINS — Dagan Myers doesn’t need to be reminded what it means to play at Colorado State.

It’s staring at him every time he walks into Canvas Stadium as he sees his dad, Greg’s, No. 3 honored on the west side of the stadium. And when he walks around the facility and he sees his dad’s name as not just a member of the CSU Hall of Fame, but also as one of the program’s few members of the College Football Hall of Fame. And when he sees his dad’s Jim Thorpe Award trophy, which he earned as the country’s top defensive back in 1995.

When the redshirt freshman safety slips on his own No. 3 Rams jersey this Saturday (1 p.m., Altitude) at New Mexico, Myers knows he’s got a legacy to uphold.

“That means a lot every day when I’m in the facility and out on the field and see the (number) three. I’m representing (my dad), representing CSU with it,” Dagan told The Denver Gazette this week. “We’ve bonded like crazy these last couple years. He knows exactly what I’m going through, what my struggles are. I’m just learning a lot from him.”

The same goes for fellow redshirt freshman, defensive lineman Jack Moran.

Also, the son of a CSU Hall of Famer, Sean Moran, Fort Collins has always been a special place. Jack still remembers going to the final game at Hughes Stadium in 2016 and the big dirt parking lot he spent countless hours tailgating in as a kid.

In a lost season (2-7 overall, 1-4 Mountain West) highlighted by the mid-season firing of coach Jay Norvell, the Rams still have a young crop of players, led by Myers and Moran, hoping to lead the program back to what it was when their fathers were on campus.

“It’s everything to me,” Moran said. “This is basically my second home growing up, as my dad and basically my whole family have come here. I’m very proud of myself to come (to CSU), too, and step up when the time needs it.

“Especially when talking about the future of the program and keeping everybody together, it helps to have those types of guys (around).”

After getting a chance to start over half the games at defensive tackle this season, Moran said he hopes to become a team captain at some point in his career and while Myers, who has played snaps at both safety and as the team’s punt returner, admitted he’s not the biggest talker off the field, he wants to lead by example like Jack Howell and Henry Blackburn, a pair of former standout safeties he got to watch and learn from up close last season.

“Those guys were just Rams through and through,” Myers said. “They taught me how to have grit and compete and still have fun out here. To me, that’s the biggest thing. I gained a lot of knowledge on how to play this sport correctly from those guys.”

Myers also learned that the start of your college career isn’t always perfect. Just like they did under Steve Addazio, Myers has now seen what it’s like for a season to go off the rails and have the head coach fired. The same goes for his and Moran’s dad, as they started their careers in the last year under coach Earl Bruce before finishing them under legendary Sonny Lubick.

Just like in the 1990s, a Myers and a Moran is hoping to lead CSU back to winning ways.

“It’s just the reality of it,” Myers said. “(Howell and Blackburn) ended up building a great group of guys that came together and won last year. That’s really where it’s encouraging to see that and know that’s what they did, so hopefully that’ll happen with me and Jack and all those guys.”

King’s prediction

New Mexico 38, Colorado State 17

All eyes are on the future for the Rams. Now officially eliminated from bowl contention, it’s become a lost season in what was expected to be one where CSU competed for a Mountain West title. At the hands of a surprise New Mexico team, interim coach Tyson Summers and his group will be dealt another defeat, the program’s first in Albuquerque since 2009.